Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this important issue on the floor of the House. I want to raise with the Minister of State the lack of school places for children with autism, which is now forcing students from south Roscommon to travel up to 100 km each day to avail of an education. I know of two children in south Roscommon who are travelling up to 100 km. Another two children I am aware of, in County Westmeath, must also travel such a distance. The children in County Roscommon will have to make a daily journey over to Glenamaddy from next September to access second level education in an autism-specific class.

I have spoken to a local campaigner, Claire Earley, and Senator Carrigy, who raised this issue in the Seanad last week. Between us, we have figured out that there will be 11 children leaving primary school in the catchment of Athlone and south Roscommon next month who have no local autism-specific school place. We all know that children with autism require routine, and their parents know the transition from primary school to secondary school is going to be challenging. What are those parents to say to their children as the latter say goodbye to their classmates? What answer are the children to give to the other sixth-class children when they talk about where they are going to school next September? Securing an appropriate school placement for a child is an anxious time for every single parent, particularly those with a child with additional needs. It makes the experience extremely stressful. The children, if they are lucky enough to get a placement in a school, will have to travel up to 100 km daily. The children I have mentioned are the ones who have been lucky enough to secure a school placement. On average, the 11 children are facing a combined weekly journey of over 4,500 km to go to school because of the failure to provide autism classes in local schools, despite the fact that this has been known to the Department for the past eight years. This is just not good enough.

We are now coming to the end of the school term and parents need certainty. Pupils themselves deserve it. Several parents of children already in the local post-primary school system believe their children would make better progress in an autism-specific class, if available. Senator Carrigy and I believe there is a need to accommodate in the region of 15 to 18 post-primary pupils within the Athlone catchment area. We in Athlone pride ourselves on the comprehensive range and standards of the schools and colleges we have.

However, our own children, who should be entitled to an education in their town, along with their schoolmates and brothers and sisters, will not be able to avail of that. I do not think it is too much to ask that we provide that to them.

The Minister of State tweeted last night that she is going to invoke section 37 of the Education Act 1998 to direct schools to make places available in areas which desperately require additional special education needs places. One of locations is Athlone, which needs places at post-primary school level. I ask the Minister of State to give a commitment that she will invoke section 37 within the catchment area of Athlone to ensure these children are not travelling 4,500 km every single week to try to access an education.

See this speech in context